Wondering what to offer on Skillshare? Read more about topics that our members most frequently search for to inform your future classes, 1-on-1s, and digital products.
In this article:
- Complete List of Categories on Skillshare lists the top level subcategories (what we call content areas) that we actively source content for. Check to see if your content fits into our current list.
- Content that focuses or touches on restricted topics may be removed by our Moderation team. Our guidelines for what content we prohibit varies by offering:
How to Use This Data
New and existing teachers frequently reach out to us and ask what they should offer on Skillshare. We’ve put together a list of some in-demand and frequently searched-for topics on Skillshare, broken down by our top categories.
There are two ways you can use this list:
- Pair this information about in-demand topics with the Choose Your Class Topic article. Start by identifying what you’re passionate about teaching, and then review this list to see which keywords or topic areas can further refine that and point you in a specific direction.
- Plan Your Class first, and then return to this list to pull out relevant keywords. Include these in your class title, class description, and class skills tags to help your class get discovered by students.
You can adapt these same strategies for planning a 1-on-1 Session or creating a digital product for Skillshare.
Where applicable, we’ve also included Areas of Opportunity on this page: specific topics that we want to grow in our catalog and have current content gaps in. We are actively sourcing for these!
Overall Search Insights
The main trend in Q3 (July 1 to September 30, 2024) has been a continuation of what we’ve been seeing, with our top 10 search terms on Skillshare remaining as: Blender, Procreate, watercolor, drawing, graphic design, illustration, photography, After Effects, Figma, and animation. There is consistent demand for these areas.
In addition, some specific callouts regarding terms we‘re seeing search demand fluctuations for:
- We’re seeing consistent demand for creative tools like Canva, Notion, and Adobe Photoshop. Affinity Designer and Adobe Premiere saw a slight surge.
- Terms related to generative AI have slowed in demand, though Midjourney specifically saw a decent jump in Q3.
- General marketing terms like digital marketing or social media marketing all saw a decline (as did TikTok), but searches for content creation tools such as Capcut & Davinci Resolve, or platforms like Pinterest, Etsy and Instagram, all remain relatively stable.
Demand for Digital Products
By far we’re seeing the strongest demand for Procreate-related digital products, including things like brushes, pattern templates, or bundled toolkits. Other types of products that have seen some movement are drawing guides, fonts, and software guides.
Seasonal Activity in December
At the end of the year we know there is demand for seasonal content, with holiday DIY and seasonal fine art classes often seeing a surge in minutes watched. If you’ve got any related content to get out before the end of the year, know that we’re seeing demand for it!
Looking Ahead
January is one of our busiest times with people ready to start the year with resolutions in mind and to build creative habits. Regardless of what topic you’re teaching, consider this in how you’re positioning your class. How can this class help your students achieve something, build a daily behavior, or set their New Year’s resolution on its course?
In-Demand Topics
Last updated: December 12, 2024
This data represents the top search terms in English on Skillshare by our member community for the period July 1 to September 30, 2024, with areas of opportunity where applicable.
Creative Career
Top Search Terms: branding, Etsy, Fiverr, Instagram, LinkedIn, newsletter, Patreon, Pinterest, podcasting, Reels, Shopify, Shorts, social media, Substack, TikTok.
Areas of Opportunity:
- More high-quality content on TikTok will help keep up with demand for this topic in search.
Creativity & Inspiration
Top Search Terms: portfolio, portfolio development, journaling.
Design
Top Search Terms: graphic design, Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Canva, Affinity Designer, logo design, Adobe Indesign, logo, typography, web design.
Areas of Opportunity:
- Canva, Figma and Adobe Photoshop remain the most consistently popular tools in this category.
- Affinity Designer saw the most growth in demand last quarter.
Art & Illustration
Top Search Terms: Procreate, watercolor, drawing, illustration, Adobe Illustrator, gouache, character design, painting, digital art, sketching.
Areas of Opportunity:
- For digital products, we’re seeing the highest demand with users searching for and purchasing products related to Procreate.
- Daily or weekly challenge classes often see a lot of success on Skillshare. Consider how your Art & Illustration classes can help your audience build their creative habits.
Film & Video
Top Search Terms:Adobe After Effects, film, YouTube, DaVinci Resolve, video editing, CapCut, Adobe Premiere Pro, motion graphics, VFX, Final Cut Pro.
Areas of Opportunity:
- Consider how you could leverage short classes, either quick tips or highlights, as an entry point to your long-form classes that go deeper in technique.
Photography
Top Search Terms: food photography, iPhone photography, Lightroom, photo editing, portraits, product photography.
Areas of Opportunity: Beginner photography also has shown an increase in demand.
- iPhone photography continues to be a popular topic, but there is more demand for new or updated classes focused on the latest software and apps.
AI & Innovation
Top Search Terms: Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT, Midjourney.
Animation & 3D
Top Search Terms:Blender, animation, Unreal Engine, Cinema 4d, ZBrush, Procreate Dreams, Unity, Maya, 2D animation, Sketchup.
Areas of Opportunity:
- Blender continues to trend high across search! Seeking Blender classes at all levels, particularly advanced-level classes.
- There is increasing demand for the digital sculpting tool ZBrush; Unity, Autocad & Houdini also jumped in demand last quarter.
Music & Audio
Top Search Terms: Ableton, FL Studio, guitar, music production, music theory, piano, singing.
Areas of Opportunity:
- Intermediate and advanced-level classes in any of the following topics: guitar, piano, singing, and music theory.
Productivity
Top Search Terms: Airtable, bullet journal, journaling, Notion, Obsidian, project management, time management.
Areas of Opportunity:
- We often see demand for productivity and adjacent categories in January as students are starting the year with their goals in mind. Consider this in how you position your content or speak to this demand.
Writing & Publishing
Top Search Terms: blogging, content writing, copywriting, creative writing, storytelling.
Marketing & Business
Top Search Terms: branding, digital marketing, Google ads, Instagram marketing, Microsoft Excel, SEO, social media marketing.
Development
Top Search Terms: C, coding, Elementor, Framer, Javascript, Python, web development, Wordpress.
Crafts & DIY
Top Search Terms: crochet, embroidery, fashion, fashion design, knitting, sewing, woodworking.
Areas of Opportunity:
- Embroidery and knitting both saw a bit of a surge in Q3 2024.
- With crafts and DIY classes often seeing a surge in the seasonal period, consider how you can encourage your students to stick with their crafting throughout the entire year.
Home & Lifestyle
Top Search Terms: baking, cooking, dance, interior design, mindfulness, organization, yoga.
Personal Development
Top Search Terms: journaling, meditation.